Chapter 4 #2
“Sophie?” Hawk asked. “Do you think your former boyfriend, Trig, had intel about this place he never shared with the other members?”
She sipped her tea slowly because it was too hot.
Even though she hated thinking about her ex-boyfriend, she answered as honestly as she could.
“I never heard him talk about this place or any other camp or hideout in Virginia. Trig was so desperate for any kind of attention and responsibility in the club, he would’ve found a way to leverage the information if he’d had it. ”
“Ben?” Thor asked as he typed on his laptop. “Do you really expect those Black Jacks following you to show up here?”
“I do,” Ben took a mug from Drac. “But right now the LEOs and firefighters are focused on containing the fires instead of going after the men who potentially started them.”
“Black Jacks started those fires.” Thor clasped his fingers behind his head and leaned his chair, with his huge frame, so far back she hoped he wouldn’t fall. “As revenge for what happened last month. And J-Reb’s—I mean Ben’s—part in it.”
“What are you talking about?” Her shrewish voice made every man in the room flinch.
But she didn’t care. She was worried about the fires, terrified she’d miss her wedding, and tired of being left alone in the metaphorical and physical dark.
“Are these fires retribution for the big thing that happened last month in Ravensburg?”
Hawk sent her a fierce frown. “What do you know about that?”
She put her mug on the coffee table and crossed her arms. She could be fierce, too, when necessary. “Nana Ruthie told me, and the rest of Kingsmill, that Black Jacks attacked the Devil’s Renegades’ Ravensburg clubhouse. Feds arrested members of both clubs.”
Ben mumbled something unpleasant about Nana Ruthie–Kingsmill’s self-appointed matriarch–and her penchant for gossip. Hawk cursed beneath his breath, while Drac and Thor shook their heads.
She glared at all the men. “Since I may not make my wedding tomorrow, I deserve answers.”
Ben rose and came toward her. Deep lines had formed around his eyes, and she took his arm.
“Ben, whatever this is, we’re in it together.”
“Sophie–”
She touched his lips. “When you’re not honest with me, I get anxious.
When I’m anxious, I spin stories in my head about horrible things happening to you.
And before you say I’m being ridiculous, horrible things have happened to you.
To me.” She waved her hand to include the other men. “Probably to all of us.”
She didn’t care she was admitting all of this in front of Hawk, Drac, and Thor.
“Okay.” Ben kissed her finger still against her lips, and then he pulled his keys out of his back pocket and tossed them to his cousin. “Hawk, would you and the others grab supplies from the truck? I have water, snacks, and ammo. Then move the truck to the garage so it’s safe.”
Hawk nodded. “Got it.”
Once Hawk and the others left, she tapped her foot. It was time for answers. “If Black Jacks started these fires in retribution for their arrests, how is that your fault?”
He retrieved two water bottles from a mini-fridge and handed her one. “Remember when I was gone for three days last month?”
“Yes.” She opened hers and drank, appreciating the cold water against her dry throat. The tea had been a nice idea, but she was too stressed to enjoy it. “You couldn’t tell me what you were doing.”
“I was in Boston.” He also took a long drink.
“I was a witness for the prosecution in the case against those Black Jacks and Devil’s Renegades members arrested a few weeks ago.
Because of my testimony, four Black Jacks were sent to prison for fifteen years, including your ex-boyfriend, Trig.
My testimony also freed the Devil’s Renegades members, a situation that annoyed the Black Jacks even more. ”
This was not good news. But she’d asked for the truth and would have to deal with it as unemotionally as possible. “How is this relevant now?”
He finished his bottle and tossed it into a nearby trash can. “I gave my testimony behind closed doors as a confidential informant. But a few days ago, someone in the DA’s office leaked the transcripts.” He took her hand and led her to the leather couch so they could sit.
And the news just got worse and worse.
She placed her water bottle on the table next to her tea mug. “Do you know who leaked the testimony?”
“I have a suspect.” He leaned forward, head down, forearms over his thighs. A position of defeat. “But the real problem is that the Black Jacks now know I’m the CI that put their brothers in prison.”
She shifted onto one hip and rubbed the back of his neck. She wanted to know why he’d not shared this burden with her earlier, but this wasn’t the time for that conversation. “Why did you ask Hawk to meet you here?”
“I wasn’t sure I’d lose the Black Jacks following us.” He glanced at her with shuttered eyes. “So I led them here, where I knew Hawk would offer backup.”
Her chest felt so tight it was hard to breathe, and she stood to pace the room. Her body demanded physical action to keep up with her racing thoughts. “You’re hoping the Black Jacks will follow us here so you and the club can ambush them?”
Ben nodded. “Unfortunately, only six of the Ravensburg Chapter club members came with Hawk. The others passed us earlier today, on their way home to protect their town.”
She didn’t know what to say. He’d known, all day, that they were in danger from more than the fires. He’d known their past was barreling at them, faster than a bullet train, on the eve of their wedding, and he’d said nothing.
What little patience she’d had with the situation was draining fast.
“Ben, I want this marriage to be a team effort.” She sat and forced him to meet her gaze. “I brought some terrible people with me when I ran away from Salem and ended up in Kingsmill, but I’m not the woman I was. I can handle knowing things like you being a CI.”
“I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone.”
“There are other things you can tell me, though. Like how you’re going to take down a group of Black Jacks, with only a few other MC brothers, the night before our wedding.”
“I don’t know.” He returned to the laptops. She grabbed her water bottle, followed him, and stared over his shoulder at the images from the security cameras along the camp’s perimeter. The time at the top of the monitor said it was after eleven p.m.
“Ben–” Something appeared in the upper left frame of a screen. Ten motorcycles riding through the smoke, toward the camp’s gates.
The door opened and banged against the wall.
“You were right, Ben.” Hawk strode in, holding his weapon at his side. “Black Jacks are here.” He took her arm and led her to the back room, which held a queen-sized bed, bedside tables, and a shabby dresser. “In here, both of you. Don’t come out until I say.”
Ben grabbed Hawk’s wrist. “No way am I letting you fight the Black Jacks alone.”
Hawk released Sophie and pressed his fist against Ben’s chest. “No way am I letting a Mosby man lose his life the night before his wedding. The family already hates me, but if you get hurt, they’ll never forgive me. Now get inside so I can lock that fucking door.”
Ben pushed back. “No.”
Sophie clutched her water bottle and sank onto the edge of the mattress. Then the lights turned off. The generator’s rumbling stopped, and she heard the door lock click. “Ben?”
When he didn’t answer, she realized the truth. It was almost midnight. Forest fires and Black Jacks, as well as their past mistakes, kicked at their door. She was getting married in fifteen hours. And she was alone.